1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to hinges, and more particularly to hinges used in furnitures, furnishings or the like, for pivotally connecting a door member to a receptacle member. More specifically, the present invention is concerned with hinges of an adjustable type which can be easily mounted to various furnitures without need of skilled mounting technique.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to clarify the task of the present invention, one conventional hinge of the above-mentioned type will be described with reference to FIG. 10 of the accompanying drawings, which hinge is disclosed in Japanese Patent First Provisional Publication 62-189273.
In the drawing, there is shown the conventional adjustable hinge 100 by which a door member 14 is pivotally connected to a receptacle member 25.
The adjustable hinge 100 generally comprises a first structure 24 carried by the door member 14 and a second structure 28 carried by the receptacle member 25, these two structures 24 and 28 being detachably connected to each other for the pivotal connection between the door member 14 and the receptacle member 25, as will become apparent as the description proceeds.
The first structure 24 comprises a cup member 15 tightly fitted in a recess (no numeral) formed in an inside surface of the door member 14. Two links 16 and 17 are received in the cup member 15 and pivotally connected at their one ends to the cup member 15 through respective shafts 18 and 19. These two links 16 and 17 have other ends to which one end of an arm member 22 is pivotally connected through respective shafts 20 and 21. A position-adjustable lever member 23 is adjustably connected through a fixing bolt 29 to the arm member 22 and extends along the same. When the bolt 29 is loosened, the lever member 23 can be axially moved relative to the arm member 22.
The second structure 28 comprises a base plate 26 secured to an inside surface of the receptacle member 25. A catch plate 27 is connected through a bolt 30 to the base plate 26 and extends along the same. The catch plate 27 is shaped to detachably catch the adjustable lever member 23 of the first structure 24.
In the first structure 24, the arm member 22 and the adjustable lever member 23 are of a channel member and the adjustable lever member 23 is received in the arm member 22, as shown. One end of the adjustable lever member 23 is equipped with a pin 31. The other end of the lever member 23 has a pivotal latch member 32 pivotally connected thereto through a shaft 32a. A coil spring 33 is disposed about the shaft 32a to bias the latch member 32 in a counterclockwise direction in the drawing. The latch member 32 is formed with a hook portion 32b.
In the second structure 28, the catch plate 27 is formed with a sloped portion 34 on which the pin 31 slides and a smaller recessed portion 35 to which the pin 31 is latchedly engageable. The catch plate 27 is further formed with a tapered portion 36 on which the latch member 32 slides and a larger recessed portion 37 to which the hook portion 32b of the latch member 32 is latchedly engageable.
When the adjustable lever member 23 is pressed against the catch plate 27 having the pin 31 held on the sloped portion 34 and having the hook portion 32b of the latch member 32 held on the tapered portion 36, the lever member 23 and the latch member 32 are brought into latched engagement with the catch plate 27 to achieve coupling of the first and second structures 24 and 28. During this, the pin 31 slides on the sloped portion 34 and finally drops into the smaller recessed portion 35 and at the same time the hook portion 32b of the latch member 32 slides on the tapered portion 36 and finally drops into the larger recessed portion 37 against the biasing force of the spring 33.
Thus, upon proper coupling of the two structures 24 and 28, the pin 31 is caught or latched by the smaller recessed portion 35 and the hook portion of the latch member 32 is caught or latched by the larger recessed portion 37. Due to the biasing force of the spring 33 applied to the latch member 32, the latched connection of these two structures 24 and 28 is assured. Thus, the door member 14 is pivotally movable relative to the receptacle member 25 along a way determined by the links 16 and 17.
However, due to its inherent construction, the above-mentioned conventional adjustable hinge 100 has the following drawbacks.
First, the manual work for properly coupling the two structures 24 and 28 is very troublesome and requires a highly skilled technique. That is, because the second structure 28 is secured to the receptacle member 25 which is weighty and thus not easily movable and the first structure 24 is secured to the door member 14, the above-mentioned coupling work must be carried out by handling the door member 14 as well as the first structure 24. In fact, prior to the coupling, several attempts for adjusting the position of the lever member 23 relative to the arm member 22 must be made while holding the door member 14. Such attempts are troublesome and time consuming.
In order to facilitate such coupling work, some measures have been proposed by Japanese Patent First Provisional Publications 48-35255 and 63-265089. In these measures, the hinge is constructed of three major structures. However, even in these measures, satisfied result has not been obtained in facilitating the coupling work.